Demolition

The fun of owning a house is the customization, don't you think? Our new house was built by a builder for some generic people, most likely, and the previous owners don't seem to have done much to make it better. Once the excitement of the closing occurred, we had time to really look at the house, and decide it had to change. There were so many features we loved about our last house, and the little things that made it so wonderful are absent here.The first order of business was to remove the existing kitchen, with its stains and cracks and inconvenient layout, and take up the tiled floor and the carpeting so we could lay down oak flooring and re-finish the existing, weathered and scratched flooring. Peter has done all the work so far singlehandedly. It is a grueling schedule, and it is a good thing he knows so much about construction and demolition, and that he has been getting in top shape in preparation for this.He's done a great job so far!
Here is how the place looks now:

The fridge is temporarily there but will be moved down to the basement next week. Oak flooring will make everything so much cleaner, and a nice coat of paint will brighten it up considerably. Because lead time for kitchen cabinets is about 6 weeks, we have time to get the flooring down and make everything ready, and move some of our belongings into the rest of the house. The place looks a lot bigger without the huge unit in the family room, and that awkwardly angled island in the kitchen. I am so glad we have another place to stay in the meantime!